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How do I know how much he's eating? & constantly attached

Hi!

I have a 3 1/2 week old that is exclusively breastfed. He literally nurses all day, everyday. Well, he's not "actively" nursing the entire time but he is attached to my breast pretty much the whole time he's awake. I guess I really have two questions ... 1. Is this normal and advised that I have him stay on my breast all day long (its not just in the evening time, it's 90% of the time he's awake- which is a LOT, he takes little short catnaps during the day and some nights doesn't sleep more than 30 min to maybe an hour max at a time)?

And 2. I have to go back to work in 8 weeks ... How do I know how much he's eating since its all day long and not just one big serving every 2-3 hours... Is there a way to measure how much he's eaten? Or if I need to run a quick errand (ie: hair cut) and leave him with my husband ... Not sure how much to pump or HOW to pump since he's alternating between the two breasts all the time, doesn't give them a chance to re-fill. he's also the fussiest baby ever, and I mean that in the most loving way possible but makes it difficult to leave the house, period.

Also, I know he's getting enough because he has at least 8-10 wet/soiled diapers a day. At his 2 week checkup, he was already 1lb over his birth weight.

Re: How do I know how much he's eating? & constantly attache

You don't need to worry about how much he is eating. Have you started working on a freezer stash? The rule of thumb is that you leave 1-1.5 oz for every hour you are AWAY from the baby. And let the baby nurse on demand while together. So you work on a freezer stash. And try to pump enough the week before to make you 1st day. So if you will be gone for 8hours you need to leave between 8 and 12oz. If you are gone for 10 hours you leave between 10 and 15oz. And then while you are at work you pump to make up the feedings being missed and that should be enough to always cover the next day. And if it's not that is where you use your freezer stash to fill in the gaps. But even if you are feeding the baby around the clock while together (which YES that IS totally normal) your breast will be pooling that milk and then pumping 3times while away should yield you what you need.

Re: How do I know how much he's eating? & constantly attache

will all of the above.

I just wanted to add that tucking my baby in a sling helped me a lot with the constant nursing. It allowed me to do things round the house and get outside while still nursing my baby and keeping him close. It helps a lot with the fussing too; the motion while you are walking is really soothing for babies and can even help them sleep better.